Stoneworking machine



arch 25,1924. mam

E. T. PQLLARD :STONEWORKING MACHINE Filed Feb; 12 192; s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS MarchZS, 1924 1,488,164

E. T. POLLARD I STONEWORKING MACHINE gileg Feb. 12. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 NVE NTOR.

A TTORNEY-S Patented Mar. 25, 1924.

UNTTE;

Ltttditt All" STONEWORKING Iv'IACHINE.

Application .filed February 12, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDSON T. POLLARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented or dis covered certain new and useful Improvements in Stoneworking Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to stone cutting inachines, and more particularly, although not exclusively as to all of the features hereinafter described, to jointing machines of the type comprising a rotary carborundum or equivalent cutting wheel arranged to traverse a work supporting table or platen, the edge of the Wheel being received in a groove in the platen, whereby slabs of stone may be ripped or cross out in such a manner as to form cleanly cut edges suitable for jointing without further preparation or treatment.

The invention has for its general objects to provide means for facilitating the control of machines of this character, to render the same more convenient of operation, to increase the accuracy of the work done thereon, and to broaden their adaptability and range of operation.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, together with means whereby the same may be carried into effect, will best be understood from the following description of one form or embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It will be understood, however, that the particular construction described and shown has been chosen for illustrative purposes merely, and that the invention, as defined by the claims hereunto appended, may be otherwise practiced without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the complete machine.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan View of the work supporting table or platen.

Fig. 1 is an enlarged detail section taken through the end squaring bar.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the end squaring bar.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66, Figs. 2 and 3.

Serial No. 444,401.

The frame of the machine comprises a longitudinally disposed beam 10 supported at its ends by concrete or other piers 12, and constituting a support and guide for a carriage 11 which is mounted for longitudinal travel thereon. The carriage 11 carries at its lower end a cutting wheel 14 provided with the usual guard 29 and rotated, preferably in a clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 2, by any suitable means, herein shown as an electric motor 15 operatively connected with said wheel by a sprocket chain 16. The cutting edge of the wheel 14 is normally received in a longitudinal groove 27 in a work supporting table or platen 26, said wheel being preferably vertically adj ustable with respect to said platen by means of a hand wheel 13, as is usual in machines of this character and as will be understood by those skilled in the art without further description. The carriage 11 is caused to travel along the beam 10 by a feed screw 17 journalled at its ends in said beam, disposed longitudinally thereof, and having threaded engagement with a suitable portion of said carriage.

The mechanism for rotating the feed screw 17 and for controlling its rotation is supported adjacent the end of the beam 10, preferably by one of the piers l2 (herein the one shown at the right in Figs. 1 and 2), and may be of any suitable character. In the construction shown, power is supplied by an electric motor 18 andis transmitted to the feed screw 17 through suitable change speed gearing 19 controlled by a gear shifting handle 20, reversing gearing 21 controlled by the doubleacting clutch 22, and chain and sprocket gearin 23. The reversing gearing 21 comprises bevel gearing 24 and worm gearing 25, the arrangement of the clutch 22 being such that the carriage 11 may be moved at a relatively slow speed in one direction through the worm gearing 25 or at a relatively higher speed in the opposite direction through the bevel gearing 24, the speed in either direction being controlled by setting of the change speed gearing 19 by means of the handle 20, and the clutch 22 being movable into an intermediate or neutral position in which the feed screw 17 will be disconnected from the motor 18 and the carriage 11 held stationary. The clutch 22 is operated by a clutch shifting lever 30 connected by a link 31 with an arm 32 on a rock shaft 33 provided at its end with a hand lever 34.

The precise nature of the actuating and controlling mechanism for the feed screw and carriage is immaterial, and said mechanism may be varied widely in construction and arrangement in accordance with the preference of the designer, it being only essential for the purpose of the present invention that said mechanism be capable of causing the carriage 11 to traverse the beam 10 in either direction, and that it include means, such as the clutch member 22, which is movable into a position to cause the travel of the carriage to be arrested. It is also highly desirable that the connections be such that the cutting stroke of the wheel 14:, that is to say, the movement of the carriage 11 at relatively slow speed, be in the direction toward the controlling mechanism, or from left to right as shown in the drawings. IVith such an arrangement, and with the cutting wheel 14: rotated in a clockwise direction, as above described, it will be seen that the operator may take up a position, adjacent the controlling mechanism, in which he may readily manipulate the handle 20 and lever 34 to start, stop, or otherwise control the travel of the carriage, and that when he is in such aposition the water and other refuse from the cutting wheel 14: will be thrown away from him, while the direction of the cut will be toward him and directly under his observation. This arrangement is particularly advantageous in cutting to a stop, that is, in making a cut into but not through a piece of work, since, with the work immediately under his eye and the cut progressing toward him, he can readily see when the desired stopping point is approached and reached and can stop the cutting operation at the proper time with great accuracy.

The work supporting table or platen, designated as a whole by the'numeral 26, and on which the slabs or other work are placed, is preferably formed with a supporting surface of the usual grid-like formation in order to avoid undue adhesion of the work thereto when the slabs are wet. In accordance with one feature of the invention, said platen is formed in two portions, namely, a longitudinal portion 26 and a transverse portion 26", the portion 26 being employed for making longitudinal cuts in work positioned thereon, as by means of a suitable adjustable side gage or longitudinal squar ing bar 28, and the portion 26 being used for the purpose of cutting off and squaring the ends of the slabs which have been cut on the longitudinal portion 26 The transverse portion 26 of the platen is disposed at the end of the longitudinal portion 26 thereof adjacent the controlling mechanism,

and consequently adjacent the operator, so that this work of squaring can be carried on directly under the eye of the opera-tor.

without requiring him to leave his position at the controlling mechanism for the purpose of positioning work on the transverse platen, as has heretofore usually been necessary in machines of this character.

Machines of this type are capable of very accurate work, and it has been found to be practically impossible to set the platen with a corresponding accuracy, and particularly to set the transverse platen portion 26 so asto be perfectly square with the line of cut of the cutting wheel 14. In order, therefore, to have, for the purpose of positioning the work, a reference line which is perfectly square with the line of cut of the wheel, there is provided an adjustable transverse squaring bar 35 which is secured to the outer longitudinal edge of the transverse platen portion 26 by means of capscrews 36 which pass through openings 37 (see Fig. 4:) in said bar, said openings being of a size slightly in excess of the diameter of the screws 36 so as to permit said bar a slight play on said screws. At each of the clamping screws 36 shims 38 are interposed between the squaring bar 35 and the adjacent edge of the platen portion 26", the shims employed at each point being of a suflicientnumber and thick ness to cause the bar 35 to be adjusted angularly with respect to the platen into a position accurately at right angles to the line of the cut of the wheel 14. The squaring bar 35 is disposed below the upper surface of the platen so as to leave the latter unobstructed when work is being placed thereon or removed therefrom, said squaring bar being, however, provided with a suitable number of bearing members or blocks 39 which loosely embrace said bar and are removably supported thereon, said blocks, when in position, projecting above the upper surface of the platen and constituting stops or gages against which the work may be placed to position the same accurately with respect to the cut of the wheel. The bearing blocks are, of course, freely movable longitudinally of the squaring bar and may therefore be placed in the most advantageous positions to co-operate with work of different sizes. 7

The squaring bar 35 is provided on its upper surface with a graduated scale 40 arranged with its zero point at the groove 27 and opposite the outer face of the cutting wheel. Inasmuch as different cutting wheels vary somewhat in thickness, a fixed gage will not give accurate results in all cases, and the squaring bar 35 with its scale 40 is therefore 'made longitudinally adjustable in order to permit the zero point on the scale to be accurately positioned opposits the outer face of the wheel, irrespective of the thickness of the latter, and consequently opposite the edge of the out. To this end, the openings 37 in the squaring bar are made in the fform of longitudinally; elongated slots (Fig. 5), so that, by loosening the cap screws 36, the bar with its attached scale can be moved longitudinally in one direction or the other a sufiic-ient distance to cause the outer edge of the cut of the wheel to, run accurately to the zero point on the scale.

Means are preferably provided for automatically stopping the travel of the carriage 11 when the wheel 14 reaches the end of the platen, or the end of the work thereon, and to this end the rock shaft 33 is provided with an arm or lever 41 connected by a link 42 with a rod 43 disposed parallel to the path of movement of the carriage 11 and guided for longitudinal movement in bearings 44 on the beam 10, said rod being provided with adjustable collars 45 adapted to be engaged by the carriage 11 when the latter approaches the intended limit of its movement in either direction, thereby rocking the rock shaft 33, moving the clutch 22 into neutral position, and stopping the travel of the carriage.

It is frequently desirable, particularly in the case of moulded work, to make a plurality of parallel cuts in the same piece, or in a number of assembled pieces, and for this purpose it has been found more convenient to move the platen with the work thereon F than to move and reset the work on the platen, the former operation making possible an exact, fine adjustment impossible with the latter without considerable trouble. To this end,-the longitudinal platen portion 26 is supported upon rollers 45 (Figs. 2 and 6) running on rails 46 disposed transverse to the beam 10, and consequently to the path of travel of the cutting wheel 14, said rails being supported on suitably arranged uprights 47. An upright 48, disposed between the uprights 47, carries a fixed threaded bearing sleeve 49 which receives a feed screw 50 journalled in suitable bearings 51 carried by the platen portion 26 and having at its end an operating crank 52. 7

From the foregoing it will be seen that by turning the crank 52 the platen portion 26 may be moved or adjusted transversely of the line of out of the permitting said wheel tocut the work along a plurality of exactly parallel lines. \Vhen the machine is operated in this manner the cutting wheel 14 will, of course, be raised, by turning the hand wheel 18, out of the platen groove 27, which groove is used only in jointing work. In setting the machine for the latter class of work, the groove 27 of the movable longitudinal platen portion 26 will, of course, be brought into accurate alinement with the corresponding groove 27 tion, said transverse wheel 14, thereby &

in the transverse platen portion 26 which is supported in fixed position on uprights 53, the platen portions being secured together and retained with their grooves 27 in alinement by means of taper pins 54 (Fig. 3).

Having thus described my invention I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A stone working machine comprising, in combination, a T-shaped grooved platen comprising longitudinal and transverse portions, a longitudinally disposed beam, a carriage mounted to travel on said beam above said platen, means for moving said carriage on said beam, means, disposed adjacent one end of said beam and also adjacent the transverse portion of said platen, for controlling the movements of said carriage, a rotating cutting wheel carried by said carriage, and means for causing said cutting wheel to rotate in a clockwise direction and to travel towards said controlling means, where the operator is stationed, when said wheel is in cutting operation.

stone working machine comprising, in combination, a longitudinally disposed beam, controlling mechanism adjacent one end of said beam, a carriage mounted to travel on said beam, a rotating cutting wheel carried by said carriage, means controlled by said controlling mechanism for moving said carriage toward said controlling mechanism during the cutting operation of said wheel, and a platen disposed below said beam and having a groove in which said cutting wheel ope-rates, said platen comprising a lon itudinal portion and atransverse porportion being disposed at the end of said longitudinal portion adjacent said controlling mechanism.

3. A stone working machine comprising, in combination, a longitudinally disposed beam, a carriage mounted to travel on said beam, means for moving said carriage on said beam, means disposed adjacent one end of said beam for controlling the movements of said carriage, a rotating cutting wheel carried by said carriage, a platen disposed below said beam and having a longitudinal groove in which said cutting wheel operates, said platen comprising a longitudinal portion and a transverse portion, said transverse portion being disposed at the end of said longitudinal portion adjacent said controlling means, and a squaring bar at the free longitudinal edge of said transverse portion for positioning the work thereon with respect to the path of movement of said wheel.

4. In a stone working machine, in combination, a platen, a cutting wheel movable over said platen, a squaring bar disposed at the end of said platen, screws for securing said bar to said platen, and shims interposed between said bar and platen for fixing the angular position of said bar with respect to said platen and the path of movement of said wheel.

5. In a stone working machine, in combi nation, a platen, a cutting wheel movable over said platen, a graduated squaring bar at the end of said platen, and bearing blocks posed between said bar and platen for fixing the angular position ofsaid bar with respect to said platen and the path of movement of said wheel.

7. In a stone working machine, in combination, a platen, a cutting wheel movable over said platen, and a squaring bar at the end of said platen for positioning the work thereon with respect to the path of movement of said wheel, said squaring bar being disposed below the upper surface of said platen and having bearing members normally projecting above said surface, said bearing members being movable out of normal position to leave the upper surface of said platen unobstructed.

8. In a stone working macl'iine, in combination, a platen, a cutting wheel movable over said platen, a squaring bar at the end of said platen and disposed below the upper surface thereof, and bearing blocks loosely embracing and removably supported by said bar, said blocks when in position on said bar projecting above the upper surface of said platen.

9. In a stone working machine, in combination, a platen, a cutting wheel movable over said platen, a graduated squaring bar at the end of said platen and disposed below the upper surface thereof, and bearing blocks removably supported by said bar and longitudinally movable thereon, said blocks when in position on said bar projecting above the upper surface of said platen.

10. A stone working machine comprising, in combination, a longitudinally disposed beam, a carriage mounted to travel on said beam, means for moving said carriage on said beam, means disposed adjacent one end of said beam for controlling the movements of said carriage, a rotating cutting wheel carried by said carriage, a platen disposed below said beam and having a longitudinal groove in which said cutting wheel operates, said platen comprising a longitudinal portion and a transverse portion, said transverse portion being disposed at the end of said longitudinal portion adjacent said controlling means, a longitudinally disposed squaring bar on said longitudinal platen portion, and a transversely disposed squaring bar at the edge of said transverse platen portion adjacent said controlling means.

11. A stone working machine comprising, in combination, a carriage, a guide for said carriage, means for moving said carriage along said guide, a cutter carried by said carriage, a platen for supporting the work for the action of said cutter, said platen comprising a fixed portion and a movable portion, and means for moving said movable portion in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of said carriage.

12. A stone working machine comprising, in combination, a longitudinally disposed beam, a carriage mounted to travel on said beam, means disposed adjacent onerend of said beam for controlling the movements of said carriage, a rotating cutting wheel carried by said carriage, a platen disposed below said beam and having a longitudinal groove in which said cutting wheel operates,

said platen comprising a movable longitudi-' nal portion and a fixed transverse portion, said transverse portion being dlsposed at the end of said longitudinal portion adjacent said controlling means, and means for moving said movable longitudinal portion in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of said carriage.

13. A stone working machine comprising, in combination, a carriage, a guide for said carriage, means for moving said carriage along said guide, a cutting wheel carried by, said carriage, a platen for supporting the work for the action of said cutting wheel, said platen comprising a fixed portion and a movable portion each having a groove in which said cutting wheel operates, means for moving said movable portion in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of said carriage, and means for locking said movable portion to said fixed portion with the groove therein in alinement with the groove in said fixed portion.

14. A stone working machine comprising, in combination, a T-shaped grooved platen consisting of longitudinal and transverse portions, a longitudinally disposed beam, a carriage mounted to travel on said beam above said platen, means for moving said carriage on said beam, means, disposed adjacent one end of said beam and also adjacent the transverse portion of said platen, for controlling the movements of said carriage, and a rotating cutting wheel carried by said carriage which travels towards said controlling means, where the operator is stationed, when the machine is'in cutting operation.

In testimony whereofI aflix my signature.

EDSON T. POLLARD. 

